Directed Energy Weapons, particularly those powered by lasers,
have long been the stuff of science fiction. Due to recent
innovations in commercial solid-state lasers and their adaptation
to military uses, potential and immediate national security
applications for these weapons are apparent.

The Pentagon, however, has been agonizingly slow in fielding
operational prototypes. This must change. There are real-world
missions for which laser weapons are needed right now.
Additionally, fielding prototypes is essential for developing the
appropriate tactics, techniques, and procedures for employing these
new capabilities. Unless the military gets these new technologies
in the field, it is doubtful the full potential of such weapons
will ever be realized. Additionally, further delays make it
unlikely that a constituency will develop within the military to
strongly advocate for developing and fielding directed energy
weapons.

Dangerous World

Pirates off the coast of Somalia, terrorists armed with
shoulder-fired heat seeking missiles that can down commercial
airliners, and road-side improvised landmines waiting to ambush
military and civilian convoys all share something in common: They
are threats capable of harassing both governments and the private
sector. Additionally, such dangers are not easily countered by
conventional military capabilities.

At Sea. Terrorists, criminals, and pirates have all used
small boats for attacking both military and civilian shipping and
to smuggle contraband. In 2000, while docked in Yemen, the U.S.
warship Cole was struck by a small boat laden with
explosives. The al-Qaeda-directed operation killed 17 crew members
and crippled the ship. Off the coast of Florida, smugglers attempt
to run their human cargo to the United States at night in small,
fast boats. Often the U.S. Coast Guard, which is charged with
stopping these smugglers, has little alternative but to try to
shoot out the engines while running at high speed, all the while
trying not to injure the human cargo huddled in the belly of the
boat. Routinely, pirates venture out into the waters of the Gulf of
Aden in similar small craft, capturing commercial ships and selling
their cargo while holding the crew and craft for ransom.

In the Air. In 2002, terrorists fired two shoulder-fired
missiles at a commercial airliner in Kenya. Thankfully, they
missed; there were two-hundred passengers on board. In 2003, the
U.S. government successfully intercepted an attempted arms sale of
a shoulder-fired Igla SA-18 missile, capable of downing commercial
aircraft three miles in range and two miles in altitude. These
examples demonstrate that malicious actors have an enduring
interest in obtaining and using shoulder-fired missiles as
terrorist weapons.

On the Ground. In Iraq, improvised explosive devices
(IEDs), essentially home-made landmines, were used as the weapon of
choice against collation forces. IEDs quickly became one of the
major sources of death and injury to both military personnel and
innocent civilians. Many of the tactics and innovations pioneered
in Iraq were exported to other theaters. Similar IED attacks, for
example, have been used against NATO troops in Afghanistan.

All these means were adopted by terrorists and criminals because
they are cheap, effective, and difficult to counter with
conventional military and law enforcement means.

Breakthrough Technology

Lasers can be effectively used to counter the above-documented
threats because they:

Can use a high-powered beam of energy to disable electrical
components or detonate explosives, rendering the attack means
(e.g., boat) or the warhead of a missile useless;

Come with an almost infinite magazine--as long as the weapons
have power, they can be recharged and fired again;

Can be aimed effectively using existing target acquisition
systems (such as radars and optics like night-vision goggles);
and

Can be employed with a minimum of risk toward surrounding
civilians, buildings, or vehicles (such as aircraft, cars, and
ships).

These advantages provided by directed-energy weapons are
achievable. The Pentagon, however, has been reluctant to field
these weapons because the technology was not suitably mobile and
robust enough for use on the battlefield. Lasers, for example,
could be attenuated (their power diluted) by dust in the air. But
the development of commercial solid-state lasers and improvements
in laser optics has largely addressed these issues.

Yet the Pentagon is still reluctant to field these weapons
because they cannot achieve the power and mobility the military
thinks it needs for many battlefield missions. Today, however,
mobile lasers can be fielded for low-power weapons, (approximately
25 KW). Such weapons, while not very powerful, would be effective
for addressing a range of threats. They could, for example:

Disable the engines of small boats and planes;

Detonate shoulder-fired missiles before they strike their
targets; and

Trigger IEDs from a safe distance before they threaten passing
convoys.

Fielding such weapons now would not only address a range of
legitimate and problematic threats; it would also provide critical
operational experience in using these new weapons.

Time to Act

Despite the important role these new weapons could play, the
military services continue to develop them at a snail's pace.
Currently, there are no plans to field operational prototypes of
low-powered laser weapons. The Department of Defense stood
up the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Task Force because
the services could not develop new capabilities fast enough to deal
with emerging threats in Iraq. The Joint IED Task Force, or a
similar task force, should be assigned with developing operational
prototypes for low-powered lasers and getting them in the hands of
our troops now.

James Jay Carafano,
Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom
Davis Institute for International Studies and Senior Research
Fellow for National Security and Homeland Security in the Douglas
and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage
Foundation.